Saturday, March 16, 2013

Interview with Forgotten Tomb (ITA)

Only a few months after Forgotten Tomb had released their latest album ...And Don't Deliver Us From Evil (Please find a review for it here: http://lachrymachristizine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/review-forgotten-tombs-latest-album-and.html) through Agonia Records,which is one of the top 10 Black Metal albums of 2012 for Lachryma Christi, and just before they start their European tour, here is an interview with the band. Forgotten Tomb achieved a very special position in the Black Metal scene not only in Italy but in general, becoming one of the most remarkable and respected bands. Let's read!What do you mean with Forgotten Tomb as a name? Is it any tomb in special?No, it came from an old song after the same title. It refers to some kind of eerie graveplace located in a different universe, always shrouded in fog, forgotten by everyone. Might also be interpreted as a dark corner of the mind, like the forgotten tomb of our joy and happiness, the love's burial ground, the place where all smiles end. Something like that I guess.You are frequently “labelled” as Gothic/Doom/Black Metal. Not wanting to label you again, do you agree with this description?I read that description a few times in regards to our latest albums and I think the term "Gothic" is completely misleading in regards to FT. We don't have any "Gothic" influences, unless you mean some old Paradise Lost or such. When I think to Gothic I think of female singers, latex dresses, Cradle Of Filth or EBM music, so I think it's even kind of offensive for a band like us. "Suicidal" or "Depressive" Black Metal is the genre we basically gave birth to back in the days, but I don't recognize myself into what other bands who call themselves like that are doing these days. They totally misinterpreted the message and the music. Plus, we evolved a lot since the beginning. I think the good point about FT is that you can't put it in any category, and this means we have a style of our own. Early '90s Black Metal, traditional Doom, southern USA 'Sludge and Post-Punk/Dark Rock of the '80s are our main influences, so I'd rather call our music Black/Doom to keep it easy or Dark Metal or Black Rock, haha. I'm not that much interested in labels, though I hate to see the band labelled in misleading ways like "Gothic" or stuff like that, which does not really fit our sound and concept.Your earlier albums used to be more raw and aggressive, now the sound has been changing, and it’s deeper, more depressive and maybe more melodic and touching. Why did this change happen?I wouldn't say our older albums were raw and aggressive, besides the demo-CD "Obscura Arcana Mortis". From "Songs To Leave" and on we more or less always followed the same main lines, meaning our particular mixture of very eerie and suicidal Black Metal, Dark-Wave/Dark-Rock lead guitar melodies and Doom overtones. Then from "Negative Megalomania" to the latest albums we increased the more rocking tempos and groovy parts and the Doom elements became heavier and closer to Sludge. Production and musicianship have increased over the years of course, so the latest albums sound more powerful and refined of course, but that's a natural evolution. We always try to get better on every level and to be ahead of the game.

What are the lyrics in new album … and Don’t Deliver Us From Evil about?It’s a very personal album lyric-wise. There a couple of songs about love and fucked up relationships, which is something I haven’t talked about in years, for instance. But it doesn’t get too specific, it’s mostly my vision of how I see and live this kind of things nowadays, and it’s incredibly negative stuff. Nothing fancy or “emo” like some people might suspect. It’s completely dark stuff. It’s about things that I experienced myself but it’s also about what I see around me. Then there are other songs dealing with pure despair and self-destruction, stuff about this will to die and disappear that caught my life over the last year and half. Things got incredibly dark at a certain point and I just came up with these lyrics. Generally speaking, it’s an incredibly dark album lyrically-wise, it never got so dark since “Love’s Burial Ground”, but the difference is that now I’m an adult and I have the proper skills to write down this stuff without regretting it afterwards. The main concept behind the album is basically the death of innocence and the conscious will to offer your own life to the dark side of the human nature, there's still the whole glorification of negativity concept which has been the engine behind every FT album.How has been the reaction of the public to this new album? Are you happy with the way things have been going with it?Yes, it seems like both people and critics liked it more than its predecessor, and there has been an increasing interest in the band which led us to play a lot more live shows than in the past, so we consider ourselves very satisfied. Also sellings have been pretty good, despite the fact nowadays it's impossible to sell as good as 10 years ago, but this is the same problem for every band in the world.Do you follow the Black Metal scene in Italy? If yes, what do you think of it?I don't follow the Black Metal scene in general that much, not only the Italian one. I think there are some good bands and some bad ones, but it has always been like that. It's not that huge of a scene in Italy, more or less it's always the same people going to shows and such. It's something I'm not particularly interested in, to say the least. I actually don't give a fuck, we are the leading Black Metal band in Italy so I don't really care about the rest.What do you currently listen to? What is/are the band/s on the top of your list at the moment?Mostly Italian Rap stuff. I also listen to some old favourites of mine like Buzzoven and Eyehategod, stuff like that. I constantly spin the Celtic Frost classics also. In Black Metal I like Solstafir and Spektr and a few others. Mostly all those bands who managed to do something a bit new without compromising too much. Among the latest Metal bands I discovered, Primitive Man came out with a pretty sick album. Kill Devil Hill is also cool.

Is there any concept behind Forgotten Tomb as a band?Glorifying negativity and evil in men, sticking to the dark side of human nature and pleasing our earthly needs and vices, I guess.This year you will be playing in London Uk for the very first time. Since you have so many fans in there who are waiting for years to see you live, what are you expecting of this show?I'm expecting a sold-out hall (which by now it seems is gonna happen) and therefore a good show with a good audience. I'm very much looking forward to that. I also hope I will manage to visit some second-hand stores and buy a shitload of cheap CDs/LPs.What are your plans for the near future besides touring? What can we expect from Forgotten Tomb?Besides touring we will release a live DVD + live album in the second half of 2013, then we'll work on the next studio album. We might also release a few reissues of old albums.Anything else you would like to say to readers?Go get the latest FT album and fuck up yourself bad! See ya on tour, bring booze and dope.